Shades of grey.

Things are rarely as they seem at first glance. Black and white issues merge into a murky grey. U.S. President Donald Trump is a busy fellow. No sooner has he jumped all over Amazon, possibly because of its links with the Washington Post, which he loves not, then he ups the anti with China with tariffs.

Billions of dollars have been wiped off the stock market quite likely due to Trump’s tweets. Conversely most likely billions of dollars have been added to the stock market because of Trump’s tweets. I cannot for the life of me see how anyone, Trump included, can be allowed to post what he does. Why hasn’t he got law suits from investors up to his neck? Maybe he has.

Back to China. I’ve always warned about China. I’ve never believed that it has friendly intentions towards the west, I believe it still. I also thought it was a big mistake for corporations to move en-masse to China in pursuit of cheaper labour and a huge market. I think there could be a reckoning soon that could shake western economies to their core. Ironically what Trump has said about China is right. Something needed doing a long time ago. Whether it is right to charge right at the issue now or in the way that he is doing it remains to be seen.

On to the Mexico border, now the National Guard are moving there for perhaps an extended stay. Yes, the border has been a problem for decades. Is this the right way to fix it? Time will tell but it will look good. On the cynical side, I wonder how much of the U.S. economy is dependent on cheap, illegal foreign labour. I guess we’re about to find out.

It looks like the U.S. may be requiring access to people’s social media accounts to get visas. That’s another debate about freedom of speech and privacy. What if your social media account, like my personal one if I can remember it, is inactive with almost zero postings? I admit I’ve always had trust issues around social media and my personal account I haven’t used for years. Hell, I don’t even use my phone much. Maybe it’s a guy thing. Two recent deaths now I think with autonomous cars. Will it stop the momentum? How about no. There is far too much money riding (pun intended) for a few deaths to upset the journey. I like to drive myself. However, I concede when it comes to the time when I’m unable to drive, would I consider an autonomous vehicle to maintain my independence? Yes, I think I would.

Alberta spring is stop, start.

The cause of this cold spell? Ironically warmer weather in the Arctic. Expect more of the same and worse. It’s happening in Europe too. I guess once the Arctic loses its cold air and evens up with down south then the pot will start to boil, so to speak.

Finally, Russia. The spat over the nerve agent poisoning goes on. I haven’t made up my mind if Putin has miscalculated the response or if things are going to plan in a complicated global chess game, which he’s very good at, master even. If things are going to plan look for Putin testing NATO’s resolve over Latvia. There are Russian missile tests underway near Latvia and economic sanctions are likely to be imposed over the compulsory use of the Latvian language rather than Russian in secondary schools for older students. This drum beat sounds very similar to the one before the invasion of the Crimea, except much more dangerous with Latvia being a NATO member. Russia’s gambit could seriously fracture NATO or bring us all to war.